Indiana was awarded nearly $18 million in grants this week to combat homelessness by the U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development.

The grants, announced Tuesday, are part of a $1.95 billion effort by the department to fight homelessness, which awarded grants to almost 7,600 organizations across the country, according to a news release.

In Indiana, 105 programs and organizations are receiving a total $17,889,804 in funding. Some of that funding will go to re-housing projects, outreach programs and community centers, including Indianapolis' John H. Boner Center.

HUD estimates there were nearly 550,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night this year.

Every year, programs like these provide emergency, transitional and permanent housing to more than 1 million people experiencing homelessness, according to HUD.

Since the launch of the Obama administration's Opening Doors plan six years ago, communities have reported the number of people experiencing homelessness has declined by 14 percent, family homelessness declined by almost 23 percent and veteran homelessness declined by 47 percent.